Input devices including proximity sensor devices (also commonly called touchpads or touch sensor devices) are widely used in a variety of electronic systems. A proximity sensor device typically includes a sensing region, often demarked by a surface, in which the proximity sensor device determines the presence, location and/or motion of one or more input objects. Proximity sensor devices may be used to provide interfaces for the electronic system. For example, proximity sensor devices are often used as input devices for larger computing systems (such as opaque touchpads integrated in, or peripheral to, notebook or desktop computers). Proximity sensor devices are also often used in smaller computing systems (such as touch screens integrated in cellular phones).
Some clickable input devices also have the ability to detect force applied to a sensing surface in addition to determining positional information. For example, Degner U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0079404 discloses an input device having a touch-sensitive track pad capable of detecting an X-Y position of an input object proximate the track pad, as well as a movement indicator for detecting movement of the movable track pad. As the user presses down and “clicks” the pad to simulate a button press, the device provides tactile feedback to the user confirming the simulated button click.
In contrast to presently known clickable input pads, force pad input devices allow the user to simulate a click event by pressing down on the track surface with at least a predetermined threshold level of force to satisfy a “push” force threshold, and to effect a simulated (or virtual) button click when the applied force is reduced by a sufficient amount to satisfy a “release” threshold.
Presently known force pads are limited in that they do not provide tactile feedback to indicate a successful click. Moreover, presently known force pads do not adapt to an individual user's force preferences. That is, if the predetermined force threshold needed to detect a click is set too high, the device may fail to detect an intended click. Conversely, if the predetermined force threshold needed to detect a click is set too low, the device may detect false positives; that is, the device may declare a click when the user does not intend one.
Devices and methods are thus needed which overcome the foregoing shortcomings.